


A Great Loss

by hermionemalfoy79



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Family, HP: EWE, Hurt/Comfort, Use of the name Scorpius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 12:56:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14355975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermionemalfoy79/pseuds/hermionemalfoy79
Summary: Hermione experiences a great loss a few days before Christmas and her husband and children are there for her. Dramione family one shot.





	A Great Loss

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter, names, and places are copyright JK Rowling. No profit is being made from this fanfiction.

 **Pairing:** Draco/Hermione

 **Summary:** Hermione experiences a great loss a few days before Christmas and her husband and children are there for her. Dramione family one shot.

 **Setting:** Hermione and Draco are married. They have two children, Scorpius (age 11), and Atria (age 5).

**x-x-x-x-x**

**A Great Loss**

_December 2017_

Hermione Malfoy couldn't believe this was happening to her. Christmas was suppose to be a happy time of year; things like this _shouldn't_ happen. But she knew that unfortunate things happened all the time. She clenched and unclenched her fists as more tears escaped her eyes.

Just a short while ago, she and her husband had arrived home after picking their son, Scorpius, up from King's Cross Station. It was his first year at Hogwarts and his first time being home for Christmas holiday. When they got home, Hermione had found it to be rather odd that Crookshanks hadn't greeted them like he always did and told Scorpius and Atria to go play for a bit. She had gone looking for her faithful half-Kneazle and couldn't find him anywhere before checking the upstairs sun room that he so enjoyed in his old age.

What had she had found had surprised her. Crookshanks had been unresponsive to her calls and when she had taken a closer look, she had found that he had passed away. With a shuddering breath, she conjured up a sheet to put over him before locking the room and rushing down the hallway in shock.

She went into the nearest unused study in the huge Manor that she and her family lived in, where the children wouldn't find her. She didn't want them to worry. The shock slowly started to turn into heavy sobs.

Hermione had known that Crookshanks' time had been approaching. After all, she had had him for almost 25 years. She wasn't sure what Crookshanks' exact age was as he had been older when she got him, but being a half-Kneazle, he lived had a longer life expectancy than regular cats. None of that would have prepared her to have found him that way. She sat on a small sofa in the room, her head in her arms as tears wracked her body.

This was how her children found her.

"Mum!" Scorpius exclaimed. "We were looking all over for you! You were taking too long and you promised that we could get started on decorating the tree before supper-" he was cut off when he realized that his mother was crying and rushed over to her sobbing form. "Mum?"

"What's wrong with mummy?" Atria asked, following her older brother.

"Shh," Scorpius hushed his sister and placed a hand on his mother's shaking arm. "Mum? Are you okay? Mum, what's wrong? Mum?"

Hermione sniffled and pulled her head away, causing both children to gasp at her tear-stained face.

"It's all right," Hermione tried to reassure them, and quickly wiping away her tears. She hadn't wanted them to find her crying. "Mummy's okay-"

"No," Scorpius shook his head and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "You're crying, mum..." his voice cracked. Like his father, he hated to see women crying, especially his own mother.

"It's okay," she whispered as Atria climbed into her lap and her little arms hugged Hermione around her neck.

"Why is mummy crying?" the small, blond-haired girl asked tearfully. "I don't want mummy to be sad..." she whimpered.

Hermione sighed. She knew she had to tell them the truth or they would just find out on their own and would be hurt even more. She wrapped her arms around both of them and held them close. "You remember what mummy told you when your Uncle Jim passed away?" she asked, referring to her father's brother who the kids had really adored.

Scorpius nodded. "Yes...you said he went into the afterlife and that he would always be watching over us."

Hermione nodded. "Well...mummy is crying because Crookshanks passed away, just like how you cried when Uncle Jim passed away. I feel the same way that you did at that time."

"He did?" Scorpius asked sadly, his eyes shining with tears. Hermione nodded and held him closer, kissing his soft, blond hair. He understood death a little better than his sister did. "Why?" he asked, which was a rhetorical question. He had always liked Crookshanks.

"He was old, sweetheart," Hermione whispered, burying her face in her son's hair as he rested his head on her shoulder. "And it was his time."

"Can't you just get a new Crookshanks?" Atria asked innocently, which sent her mother into more tears.

Scorpius tore his face away from his mother's shoulder and glared at his sister. "No, stupid!"

"Scorpius!" Hermione scolded. "Your sister isn't stupid. She just doesn't understand the same as you do," she turned down to her daughter who was whimpering and looking at her older brother warily. "It's all right, dear," she kissed her blond curls.

Scorpius sat back and watched as his mother held his sister and she silently mourned. His mother was right; he did understand the concept of death more, but he was unsure about how to console his mother. But he knew someone who would. Quickly, he stood up.

"I'm sorry, Atria," he said. "You're not stupid. Please keep holding mum and I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, confused.

Scorpius gave her a small smile. "I'll be right back, mum. I just have to do something."

He quickly left the room and headed to his father's study on the floor below. When he got there, he entered and found his father on a Floo call and stopped abruptly. His father had said to only interrupt his calls if it was important. Scorpius deemed that this was pretty important.

"Dad?"

Draco looked around to him. "What is it, Scorpius?" he asked, frowning. "I'm on a call with a client here and it's important."

"I know you said not to interrupt your calls unless it was important, but mum is crying and I don't really know what to do to help her."

Draco's eyes widened a fraction before he quickly turned back to his client and asked if he could call him in the morning before stopping the Floo call and standing up straight. He turned back to Scorpius with concerned grey eyes. This bothered Draco; Hermione was never one to cry in front of the children if she could help it and she had seemed fine when they got home.

"What do you mean she's crying? What happened?"

Scorpius sniffled. "Follow me, dad. I'll take you to her."

Draco followed his son out of the room and asked him to explain what was going on.

"Atria and I went looking for her when she was taking too long because we wanted to start on decorating the Christmas tree. And we were going to find you next since we're all suppose to decorate together. We couldn't find mum anywhere, but then we found her in one of the studies that isn't used upstairs and she was crying her eyes out! She told us that Crookshanks has died."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed. "When did this happen? She seemed fine earlier when we got home. She never said anything."

"I don't know," Scorpius said grimly as they made it to the room.

Draco looked in and his heart broke, seeing his wife wiping her tears while Atria was crying and at the same time was trying to cheer her mother up by making funny faces.

"Hermione?" he whispered and immediately went over, sitting down next to her and wrapping his arms around her, and she sobbed on his shoulder.

Scorpius sat on the other side of Hermione while Atria still sat in her lap and the two held their mother.

When Hermione's crying finally subsided, Draco pulled back to look at her and wipe away the few remaining tears. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Hermione shook her head. "I didn't want you all to worry."

"But, isn't that what family does?" Scorpius asked. "You said that family is there to worry about you even if no one else does and family is there for you when you need them most..."

"I know, but...I..." she sighed. "I just found him after we got home and I was in shock and..."

Draco tucked a stray curl behind her ear and smoothed her hair down in a comforting way. "Where is he?"

Hermione swallowed hard before speaking. "I just...I just covered him up and quickly left the room. I was in shock and I-I c-couldn't handle it and wanted to try and calm down first before taking care of him. He...He's in the sun room that he l-likes..."

Draco nodded at his and stood up. "You calm down for a moment then get yourself and the kids dressed to go outside. Meet me down by the treeline of the forest in about 10 minutes, okay?" he asked and before she could protest, he left the room.

Ten minutes later, Hermione found herself holding Atria and Scorpius' hands as they made their way down through the snow to the treeline. Up ahead, she saw a spot that had been magically cleared out with a fresh grave and small headstone that Draco stood beside. She couldn't hold back her tears as they made their way to the spot.

Draco stepped forward and took her into his arms, holding her close as Atria clutched to his pant leg and Scorpius still held his mother's hand.

"This is what you need to do, love. You'll hopefully feel a little better," he whispered to her and she pulled back, nodding her head.

"Oh, Draco..." she whispered and looked down at the small, white stone that said _'Crookshanks, loving companion'_ along with the year. "Thank you..."

Draco took her free hand, giving it a comforting squeeze before turning to the small grave. "I'll start," he announced and looked down at it. "Crookshanks, we didn't always get along, but you've been with us a long time and you'll always be part of the family. Thank you for always being there for my wife and your Mistress," he then glanced down at Hermione and she gave him a small smile.

Scorpius stepped forward also, following his father's example. He knelt down, and patted the small headstone lightly. "Crookshanks, thank you for the times that you comforted me and slept with me so that I wouldn't have nightmares. You've been a good friend and I'll always miss you and I hope that you're in a better place and are safe and happy. Please say hello to Uncle Jim for me."

"Do you want to say anything to Crookshanks, Atria?" Draco looked down at his daughter.

Atria nodded and held her father's hand tightly. "I will miss hugging you and I'm sorry for pulling your tail, Crookshanks..." she sniffled then reached forward to kiss the headstone before going back and clutching to her father's leg again.

Hermione gave her children a watery smile and hugged them both before Draco told the kids to step back so that she could have a moment alone. Hermione knelt down in front of the headstone and smiled sadly at it.

"We were together a long time, Crookshanks. You have and always will be a very dear friend to me and I will never forget you. Thank you for always being there for me, watching out for me, my family and friends, being my companion, comforting me as we grew older together. You've _always_ been there for me and you're the best friend a girl could ever ask for," she knelt there, remembering all the good times as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "You've always been a good judge of character, Crooks and I want to thank you for that as well, especially when I went back for my seventh year at Hogwarts. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have realized that Draco wasn't all that he seemed and I wouldn't have had the chance to get to know him. You were the one who had first sought out his company and I believe it was your way of playing matchmaker, wasn't it?" she laughed softly. "I'm glad you did. Goodbye old friend, you'll always be in my heart," she whispered and kissed the stone before standing up.

"Can we visit Crookshanks here, mummy?" Atria asked sadly. "Can we still talk to him sometimes?"

Hermione nodded. "Of course, sweetheart."

Draco wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close then looked down at his son. "How about you and Atria head back inside and get started with decorating the tree before dinner? Your mother and I will join you in a few minutes."

Scorpius nodded and took his sister's hand, leading her back to the Manor.

"Thank you for doing this for me, Draco," Hermione said softly.

"I'm sorry it happened at this time of year. I understand how you must feel, Hermione," he held her close. "You two were together a long time. It's understandable why you're going to take it hard. I'll miss the old fur ball, too," he quirked a smile when she giggled quietly and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'll be okay," she whispered. "Crookshanks lived a really long life."

They stood there for a few moments before Draco spoke again. "The night's coming on, so we should head back inside before a disaster strikes. You know what our children can be like."

Hermione nodded and looked back at Crookshanks' grave once more before allowing her husband to lead her back inside. Despite it being so close to Christmas, she was going to her best to be cheerful for her children. Crookshanks _had_ lived a long, good life and he was resting peacefully now. She would have her time to mourn, and she knew her family would be there for her.

**x-x-x-x-x**

**Author's Note:**

> _I originally posted this on fanfiction.net December 9, 2011_
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>  **Author's Note:** Atria is the brightest star in the southern constellation Triangulum Australe.
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> This is a little sad, but I wanted it to be fluffy and comforting at the same time. The next fic will be happy, promise!


End file.
